Discuss The Archers #108: Has Ed & Emma’s ship sailed? Will Alice stick her oar into Kate's love life? Can Shula walk on water? Come and discuss whatever floats your boat in The Archers.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads and @DadDadDad for being our resident statistician and keeping the ball rolling when Pseudo stepped back a bit.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed. We don't all agree on all points and most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd like to be Susan's best friend or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please. We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3439443-keep-it-to-yourself-the-archers-spoilers-thread-4, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Thanks to @QuaterMiss for the title of this thread. For reasons of space had to cut out the bit speculating about Oliver and Tracy pairing off. Surely not!

Off now to give blood, something nobody in Ambridge ever does. See you all later.

Emma is an idiot. Eddy was well written, I thought.

“But it wasn't her place to decide where he grandchild stays”

It is if she thinks said grandchild is at risk.

I’ve always thought that Eddie, when it comes to the crunch, has more emotionally intelligence in his little finger than the rest of the population of Ambridge put together.

If Eddie has emotional intelligence, that means he is even more unpleasant than I thought.

No Bertram, it isn't.

I don’t think of Eddie as unpleasant, he’s popular in the village as far as I can tell. Even though most people have experienced his get rich quick schemes first hand.

“No Bertram, it isn't.”

Blimey. If a child is at risk then anyone has a responsibility to step up. Whatever their relationship to the child. Clarrie has been incredibly irresponsible in my opinion. She is thinking about what is best for Will, not what is best for a vulnerable grieving child.

But Bev has now been proved right.
Will is totally out of control, surely he did try to shoot Ed, despite Eddie having the intelligence to calm the situation.

Well, that was tense.

That cottage is cursed.

I bet I’m not the only person glad I didn’t hear any AmEx episodes.
Now to read the last 2 pages of discerning comment on current events in Ambridge.

FFS Emmur you bloody moron!

Today's episode reminded me of the time Will went AWOL after he almost strangled Ed to death and Eddie & Ed had to go out and find him, talk him down etc. He really has been quite unbalanced for a long time now.
I mentioned down thread that there were no legal grounds for Poppy's removal but today's incident slightly changes things...

Eddie was great. Thank goodness he was there rather than Clarrie and her incessant weeping.

Do we have to talk about it as if it’s real?! (Long term lurker here, evening all!)

I thought Emmur was unrealistically rude the other day. From being unrealistically warm and supportive of Will, to being incredibly rude and hurtful. Obvs she wanted to put him off but the change of mood didn’t have the ring of truth IMO.

Also — I’ve definitely read it before but can someone please remind me what BOOP means? Ta!

Do we have to talk about it as if it’s real?!
What do you mean "as if"?

someone please remind me what BOOP means?
Handy thread here.

orangeshoebox
yep. and during hunting season as well

Will keeps pheasants; it is illegal in this country to shoot them after the end of January and before the first day of October. "The [in]Glorious 12th" is grouse, not pheasants.

If Emma's very-ex, who hates his brother and has done ever since his brother shacked up with her and she left, has a shotgun in his hands and she doesn't want him to use it, who should she ring up?

I would have said maybe his father or mother, both of whom Emma knows well and whose numbers she has, rather than her second (and possibly ex) husband who is likely to make matters worse not better.

And I am absolutely certain that given Will being in a very volatile state and armed with a shotgun, telling Ed that Will tried to kiss her was very stupid of Emma indeed. Even though he was the one who chucked Emma, and at this point it is none of his business if she chose to have sex with the whole of the Brigade of Guards, Ed is going to go raging through a locked door to defend her non-existent "honour" when she was quite capable of defending herself, and did.

I do wish this particular scriptwriter didn't fancy himself as the writer of "drama": he did the jury-scene too, and a more shouty and pointless half-hour than that one would travel far to find.

Do we have to talk about it as if it’s real?!

Of course not. And welcome! I get an enormous amount of satisfaction from considering just what prompts scriptwriting decisions. Tbh if it were better written it would probably be less fun to listen to ...

What an awful episode.

birds what do you mean about Eddie in your post at 19.42?

Thanks all.

Glad there was no bloodshed tonight. It really would have been a new low.

Perhaps we should ring that BBC helpline they advertised after the episode to say we've been traumatised by the dire quality of the scriptwriting lately.

I couldn't believe Emma phoned Ed, rather than Eddie, and then to compound matters, told Ed about Will trying to kiss her. What an idiot.
I really hope they don't try to deal with this in the family, instead of insisting Will gets some counselling.

Regardless of the legalities, Poppy is in the right place at the moment. Will is far too unstable and dangerous ATM. If she was there, it could end up with him killing them both, so "they" can't take Poppy away from him. I sadly know someone who did that, and it was utterly devastating.

I get an enormous amount of satisfaction from considering just what prompts scriptwriting decisions. Me too. It wouldn’t have made any difference if Emma had phoned Eddie instead of Ed because they were together when the call was made and would have gone together whatever. I thought Will’s comment to Ed - “And then there’s you - who always gets everything even though you never once deserved it” - was interesting. It goes to the heart of the brothers’ rivalry because it so often feels like Will is the brother who got everything - the windfall inheritance, the steady job, the rich godmother - and yet he is completely incapable of appreciating his good fortune because all he can see is that Ed got Emma (and by extension George).

Argh somebody help me untangle whose kids are whose!

Emma and Will:
George

Nic and Will
Poppy

Nic and ?
Jake
Mia

Is that right?

Nic and ?
Her ex: Andrew

Yes, that’s correct.

And Ed & Emma have Keira.

it so often feels like Will is the brother who got everything ... and yet he is completely incapable of appreciating his good fortune because all he can see is [what] Ed got ...

This is so true. Unhappily, I know a family who exist with exactly this dynamic. The misery, resentment and recrimination never, ever cease.

(But bad luck, Motoko - that must be indescribably awful.)